Wickedrx7's build, L99-Magnum F, Ronin 8.8 - Finally enjoying the car!

[spacevomit]

I think what you'll find is there's only one way looks "right", the way that requires the most work to flush them in.

[wickedrx7]

I received my Speedhut gauges last week and they look great. I am going to mount them from behind in the stock locations. I am not a huge fan of them brought forward as they don't have a nice stock look to them.  Now I need to decide if I mount behind the stock plastic with the chrome bezels or use the black bezels that came with them.  I am leaning towards the chrome for that little added pop around the gauge. 

Chrome option:



Black:





I know this is pretty subjective but any thoughts?

I plan on shaving the warning lamp locations, cigarette light, blinkers and dimmer (assuming I can't figure out how to use it on these gauges). 

I want to make a custom warning lamp setup in the stock cruise location.  I will flush mount it and try to make it fit the curvature.  I might be hitting up some peps on the forum for their 3D printing skills... More to come on this.

[digitalsolo]

I like the contrast with the chrome.

[cholmes]

Yep, I agree, like the chrome better.

[Cobranut]

I like the chrome better too.

[paul_3rdgen]

I like the chrome as well, especially since you choose the black face gauges


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wickedrx7]

Thank for the input, I am going with the chrome look!

First thing at hand is to rebuild the screw holes that hold the cluster hood on.  At this point they were all pretty useless. I decided to cut them down, tap them with M5 tap and screw in m5 standoffs.  This will give a nice mounting surface that should last for some time.  I am probably going to glue the standoffs in. 

Before:



Cut down:



After:





And now to shave all the unnecessary things:









While I was at it, I reinforced all mounting tabs. They weren't fully broken yet but were on the verge of it.  Little aluminum should make them good for some time.

[digitalsolo]

Slick idea on the standoffs!

[Cobranut]

Nice work.
What are you using for adhesive to attach the aluminum to the plastic?

[wickedrx7]

Nice work.
What are you using for adhesive to attach the aluminum to the plastic?

Locktite plastic adhesive. It is a two-part that seems really strong. I scuffed the aluminum really well and it seems to hold well on the test piece I did. 

[N2v8fcs]

Slick idea on the standoffs!

Yes! Im stealing this for when I need to pull my dash on my build.

[wickedrx7]

Below is what i ordered from McMaster on the standoffs. The longer one's are for the cluster hood, the shorter are for the headlight and cruise switches:

    98952A147    Aluminum Male-Female Threaded Hex Standoff 8 mm Hex Size, 14 mm Length, M5 Thread Size    

   
        98952A138    Aluminum Male-Female Threaded Hex Standoff 8 mm Hex Size, 8 mm Length, M5 Thread Size    

   
         92005A320    Steel Phillips Rounded Head Screw M5 x 0.8 mm Thread, 10 mm Long, Packs of 100

Couple rounds of filler on the shaved holes:







I also starting to make a mount for the gauges.  I am using 1/2 x 1/8 steel bar. I will be threading a M5 bolt through the back of the gauge and then attaching with a nut to the bars.

[wickedrx7]

Making progress between other projects...

Got the gauges mounted, pretty happy with how it turned out.

I spent a ton of time laying them out to make sure they were all perfectly lined up.  It was somewhat difficult because there really wasn't a good reference point.



Alignment holes drilling:



Mounted:



Final product:

[wickedrx7]

Got some time to work on my custom warning lights.  I decided to keep Check Engine, Oil (Which I am actually going to use for accusump I think), Brake and ABS warning.  All others I figure are pretty meaningless. 

First I bent a piece of plexi to match the contour of the opening. 



I had Josh @Chambers Decals and Apparel custom make me vinyl stickers that I used as masks.  I then sprayed the back with black and peeled the mask off. It came out pretty clean, isn't perfect but pretty damn good. 

With stickers before paint:



After paint:







Next step, figure out a bulb holder....
 

[largeorangefont]

Pro tips - Use an incandecent bulb on your oil light to your accusump.

Also if you have an EPC accusump put that valve on a relay that is fired via the pressure switch. I put mine in a relay and the response and pressure consistency is much improved.